South Bay drops overtime thriller in Santa Cruz

SANTA CRUZ, CA (Feb. 11, 2018) – The South Bay Lakers had seven players reach double figures, but Santa Cruz relied on the duo of Quinn Cook and Terrence Jones to get the 131-127 overtime win (box score) on Sunday night. Thomas Bryant scored 28 points for South Bay (22-14), but Cook’s 41 points and Jones’ double-double gave Santa Cruz (19-17) their first win over South Bay this season.

Santa Cruz got out to an early 34-30 lead through one behind 10 points from Cook and nine points from Jones in the first. Bryant had eight points of his own to pace South Bay. The Lakers picked up the pace in the second quarter as Stephaun Branch and Scott Machado combined for 14 points to give their team a 64-56 lead at the half.

Santa Cruz fought back in the third as they shot 73.9 percent from the field and Cook’s 17 points bested Travis Wear’s 11 points to give the Warriors a 96-92 lead heading into the final frame. The two teams continued to go at it in the fourth as South Bay was led by Bryant’s 12 points. With South Bay down two and seconds to go, Machado missed a pair of free throws, but Wear grabbed the rebound and put in the shot to send the game to overtime.

However in overtime, Cook scored seven points and the Lakers went 0-3 from beyond the arc as Santa Cruz grabbed the win.

The South Bay Lakers will return home for the second leg of a back-to-back when they host the Texas Legends on Monday, February 12 at 7:00 from the UCLA Health Training Center. Tickets for the game are available online or can be purchased on the day of the game at the box office, which opens at 5:30 p.m.

The NBA G League’s South Bay Lakers, the first franchise in G League history to be owned by an NBA team (Los Angeles Lakers), returns for its 11th season of competition in 2017-18. The Lakers franchise has established itself as a top producer of NBA-ready talent, totaling 26 NBA Call-Ups and developing 21 Lakers assignment players since the inaugural 2006-07 season. The Lakers have claimed three division titles and have twice competed in the NBA G League Finals, most recently in 2015-16.